Raptors Almost Catch Warriors

David Steele, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published
4:00 am PST, Saturday, February 3, 1996

There were plenty of candidates for the hero's laurels last night at the Coliseum Arena. Joe Smith came up with a pair of huge baskets just as the visiting Toronto Raptors were closing in. Latrell Sprewell bagged what looked like a back-breaking 3- pointer with less than 30 seconds left. Jerome Kersey got his hands on the biggest rebound of the game, saving Tim Hardaway from the goat horns earned by his two missed free throws.

And don't forget the rim at the north end, which refused to accept either of the wide-open 3-pointers the Raptors fired up in the final six seconds, which would have sent the game into overtime.

Yes, the Warriors resembled warriors down the stretch in their 114-111 victory. That is, as long as you forget that they led by 19 points in the third quarter and 12 going into the fourth. Kersey did not. "It shouldn't even have been to that point," he grumbled. "Against a real good team, we would have been in trouble. But, it's a win."

Barely. Not until the rim said "No" to Tracy Murray's open 3 from the right corner with 5.6 seconds left -- and, after the loose ball went off of Smith, Willie Anderson's open 3 from the top with 1.9 seconds to go. Oliver Miller squeezed off one more attempt, and it banked in, but after the buzzer had sounded, ended the most exciting NBA game of the night in California (that reunion of a couple of unretirees, Magic and Michael, down in Los Angeles was a distant second).

Before that, Kersey had to bail out the Warriors (19-25) by beating everyone to Hardaway's second miss with 17 seconds left and the Warriors up only 112-111. Alvin Robertson was one of a trio of Raptors grabbing at it, and to Kersey's dismay ("It was definitely a foul") a jump ball was called. They got out of that jam when Damon Stoudamire, brilliant in the fourth quarter with 14 of his 25 points, stepped into the circle early, giving possession to the Warriors. "I didn't see any violation out there, but I don't want to get into that. It'll cost me money," said Raptors coach Brendan Malone.

B.J. Armstrong's free throws with 14.5 seconds left merely left the Raptors (12-32) enough time to get off two excellent shots. "They'd been making shots all night," said Warriors coach Rick Adelman of the Raptors' 56-percent shooting. "We finally found the solution at the end -- we left them wide open the last two shots."

Until the final quarter, it seemed like nothing more than a typical February game between two teams with losing records. Neither seemed terribly interested in defending; both shot better than 60 percent most of the game, and the expansion Raptors, in the third game of their four-game West Coast trip, turned it over 19 times in the first three quarters. The Warriors, meanwhile, showed no signs that the extended film sessions after the debacle in L.A. Tuesday had had much effect on their defense.

But the Warriors began the fourth period by missing 10 of their first 12 shots, and the Raptors chipped away at a 93-81 deficit until it was 101-99 with 3:40 left. Then Smith (28 points, nine rebounds, four blocks) and Stoudamire, who have positioned themselves as the leaders in the rookie of the year race, started showing off. They exchanged baskets twice -- Smith a jumper from the left wing, Stoudamire one from just inside the 3- point line, Smith a putback of his own miss inside, Stoudamire from outside the arc that cut the lead to one.

After a pair of Sprewell free throws, Stoudamire's slash to the hole was goaltended by Smith; he answered by posting up on the left and kicking it out to Chris Mullin, who whipped it to the right to Sprewell, who nailed a 3-pointer that gave the Warriors a 112-108 lead with 28.4 seconds left.

NOTES: The Warriors play the Nets at the Coliseum tomorrow night. . . . Carlos Rogers, who played for the Warriors last year as a rookie, started for only the seventh time all year; the reception from the crowd was far more cheers than boos. He scored six points in 18 minutes, including a coast-to-cast drive and dunk off a Stoudamire steal. . . . Stoudamire had seven turnovers; he had nine in a loss at Sacramento Tuesday. He also had 11 assists. . . . Rony Seikaly scored 18 points, 16 in the first half.